


Super Rabies

by OpensUp4Nobody



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Angst, M/M, Struggle, Zombies, but not really, craziness, sort of, sort of rabies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-03-31 17:20:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3986395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpensUp4Nobody/pseuds/OpensUp4Nobody
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>About mid March was when the stories began to circulate. Stories about people being attacked in the Detroit area. It correlated with some strange military movement that no one quite knew how to account for. The media was all over it, speculating about something dramatic that riled everyone up. Looking back, they had good reason to do so, but at the time it seemed like the usual cycle of wild leaps without evidence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. End Of The World

**Author's Note:**

> At the end of the world  
> I will hold you so close  
> So we won't notice the destruction  
> Of all we used to know
> 
> -"End Of The World" Lenka

Eight months. It had been eight months since things had collapsed.

About mid-March was when the stories began to circulate. Stories about people being attacked in the Detroit area. It correlated with some strange military movement that no one quite knew how to account for. The media was all over it, speculating about something dramatic that riled everyone up. Looking back, they had good reason to do so, but at the time it seemed like the usual cycle of wild leaps without evidence.

Then came the video evidence and even greater media speculation. Was it a prank or for real? No one knew, but there was panic and the more real things seemingly got. The first thought was obviously that zombies were coming to life and attacking people, but no truly rational person believed that. Zombies didn't make much sense scientifically when it comes to humans and Hollywood.

After a couple videos of the attacks came out, only a few days after the initial reports, the president addressed the people with a press conference, trying his best to keep everyone calm. He said that the city of Detroit had been exposed to some unknown agent that was making people sick. They did not know the origin of this agent nor how to fix it but they had so far observed that it displayed a short incubation period before the spasms and fever began like those observed in rabies, escalating agitated behavior and a split from reality, spiraling out of control. It was not yet clear what would happen to those infected, although it was assumed that they would eventually die, what with their inability to care for themselves. Also like rabies, this agent appeared to be spread through bite; although it also seemed to get into the body by means of open cuts. It was advised than anyone who had been in the Detroit area be tested and as a precaution the city was quarantining infected citizens.

People obviously freaked the fuck out, as usual when faced with life-threatening danger. The National Guard was called in to calm the people, they tried to bring things back to normal, but, of course, from there things quickly got out of control. As the Centers for Disease Control went around testing and checking for symptoms there were obviously people that they missed and those they missed spread the infection further. That combined with the civilian panic caused things to spiral quickly out of control. All means of transport in and out of the city was stopped.

From there outbreaks began to pop up in other cities and the National Guard was forced to draw back and quarantine a small portion of the state. Roads were blocked and patrolled, they didn't want any more contamination. While they were trying to figure out a way to deal with this issue, they would contain it. Trucks would come in by the day and drive out people who tested negative, but it was a slow process and there was danger in doing it both from the infected and from the panicked.

Outside this zone the rest of the American public, and the other countries, were trying to figure out what the fuck they were going to do. This quarantined zone had constant attention.

By the end of March the city of Ann Arbor was pretty well wrecked, and the people living in the city knew that better than anyone. 

Back when things started to look like they were falling apart Zeff, the proud owner of a proud restaurant called the Baratie, took the initiative to stock up on food. So, the Baratie storage was stuffed to the bursting by the time the really bad stuff started. When things started to go to shit in Detroit, people were rushing away by any means they could, but, in Ann Arbor, Zeff was determined to stay right where he was. He had lived in this city all his life and he wasn't going to leave now. He and his adopted son, Sanji, kept the restaurant open as long as possible, but when looters started to show up they were forced to keep the doors shut. At least to the people who tried to rob them, poor bastards, they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Most ended up with a least a bloody nose and empty hands. The citizens who remained benevolent they took in until an army truck would come by and pick them up to take them out of the city.

When the infection spread to the city it was more difficult. They had to worry about letting infected people in. It wasn't that they were afraid of letting in someone dangerous, because the symptomatic spasms were telling, it was turning people away that was hard. Seeing infected people lurch through the streets was also very hard. Sanji often looked down at them in the street before he went to bed. It probably wasn't good for his sanity, they made his heart ache, but he did it all the same. The figures moved in a zombie like fashion, stiff and without coordination. In his head, Sanji often referred to their infection as super rabies, but never said anything about it because somehow he didn't think everyone would find it so funny. At least not when it was affecting people they knew. Those infected often shouted nonsensically, although sometimes they were terrifyingly coherent. Nothing could help them and it was hard to get rid of them. Once they focused on something they were dead set on it and they moved without concern for injury. Sanji had seen a number of them shot or cut down; they didn't seem to feel pain. They lurched forward until they were dead or totally incapable of any movement. It was disturbing, the kind of thing that sent his heart into a fury of beating until he thought it might burst out of its home tucked between his lungs safe and sound. 

As time passed, the streets grew crowded with lurching bodies and Zeff became more and more convinced that Sanji should leave the city. He was still young and if he stayed there much longer than something was bound to happen to him.

"You've got to leave, eggplant," Zeff said, rather out of the blue.

At the time, Sanji had been cleaning blood from the floor where some fourteen-year-old boy had bled to death a few minutes before. He'd been shot, there was nothing to be done. He didn’t look up. He’d been expecting something like this for a while.

"I'm not going anywhere, old goat."

"What do you know? It's only a matter of time before you end up dead. This city is coming apart, you don't want to be here when that happens," Zeff said gruffly.

"And you do?" Sanji snorted.

"I'm an old man, someone needs to keep sending people out."

"And you're going to keep doing it with me here as well." Sanji put his hands on his hips stubbornly, "Where the hell would I even go?"

"Somewhere people don't try to bash your face in on sight."

"Everyone wants to bash my face in on sight," Sanji scowled.

"True," Zeff nodded, "I know I do."

"Well, you're going to have to put up with me a while longer, so deal with it."

"Your funeral." And maybe it would be. Although, in times like these there wasn't enough time for a funeral; just a few sad looks and then the body was put far enough away that it wouldn't stink up the place too badly.

Sanji was not impressed by Zeff's effort to get rid of him and it only served to make him more set in his idea to stubbornly stay put. He would continue to help people until he stopped functioning, dammit.  
They weren't doing especially well for supplies but they did what they could and they were better off than most. It felt good to give people something to eat, even it it wasn't much.

Day by day the number in the streets grew larger, getting people out became more and more dangerous. In mid-April, Sanji and Zeff were making another drop off of people when shots rained down on them. The past few times something like this had happened. Rogues were looking to steal army trucks and supplies. People stormed in, opening the gate and letting the infected inside. It was chaos. Very hard to fight off an enemy that doesn't react to bodily harm. People were being shoved in the truck as they desperately tried to haul them out of the city.

Someone with a metal pipe swung back too far and smacked Sanji in the side of the head. The hit was hard enough that for a moment he blacked out, sprawling onto the floor. He would have been trampled if Zeff hadn't dragged him up and out. Unfortunately, the old man threw him into the truck while he was still too out of it to protest. His last glimpse of the old chef was only a blurry image as the door was slammed shut and the car drove off. Bastard.  
Inside the truck, Sanji clutched his head as people tried to settle in, nervously looking out the back windows and ducking as they were shot at.

"Are you okay?" asked a kid to his right. Young adult was probably the proper term, since he looked to be somewhere around twenty, possibly younger, but they were all a bunch of kids to Sanji. Geez, he sounded like an old man.

"Yeah, some asshole just hit me with a pipe," Sanji said absently, trying to get his brain to focus.

"How badly were you hit?" the kid asked in concern.

"I blacked out for a second," Sanji shrugged, "I've had worse."

Growing up in an environment like the Baratie he had received some pretty hard blows to the head. More than a few had required stitches.

"I doesn't matter, if you were hit hard enough to blackout damage has been done. I'm going to need you to look at me," the kid said, turning Sanji's face in his direction. "Follow my finger."

He moved his index finger back in forth in Sanji's line of vision. Which he followed the finger with a bit of effort. The kid went on with a series of tests, leading Sanji to believe he had some sort of training with this sort of thing.

"You a doctor?" Sanji joked, the kid was obviously not old enough.

The boy shook his head, "No, not yet. I'm Tony Tony Chopper, uh, just Chopper, please. I'm a med student at the University of Michigan."

Sanji gaped at him incredulously, there was no way that was true. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," said a woman on the other side of Chopper.

Sanji hadn't noticed her before, which made him worry about the state of his mind. Normally, he would offer help to any lady before receiving some himself.

"And who might you be?" Sanji asked, a bright smile creeping its way across his face. 

"Robin," the dark haired woman said calmly.

"And you can validate the kid's claim?" He asked, his voice as sweet as sugar. 

"I can," she nodded. "He is almost qualified to look after you," she winked at the almost doctor.

"That's qualified enough for me," Sanji laughed.

"Where were you before all of this?" Robin asked him as Chopper poked and nudged at the blond.

"I’m a chef, but when things went all belly up we keep people safe in the restaurant until we could get them into trucks and send them out of the city. Or at least that's what we did. I guess, I won't we doing that anymore since I'm here and all," Sanji frowned, thinking angrily back on that shitty old man's stupid face. "What did you do?" Sanji lifted his tone.

"I work for the University of Michigan in various ways, but mostly as a history professor," Robin smiled.

"Ah, smart and beautiful," Sanji grinned, turning to a puddle under her warm gaze.

"I think you have a mild concussion, we should get you to a medical facility when we're out of here," Chopper said, frowning unhappily.

"Thanks, doc, I'll be sure to do that when we get out of here," Sanji said gratefully.

"Don't call me that, you bastard!" Chopper squealed happily.

But before they could reach any such place to provide proper medical care, the truck veered sharply to the right and slammed to a halt. They weren't even out of the city yet, but the truck had smashed into another car, sticking them in place. For a moment everyone was silent, no one knew what to do. If they went out there was no telling what would happen, but they couldn't stay inside either, not forever anyway.

After the silence came the panic. People lunging for the supplies stored in a compartment in the back. They shoved open the doors and spread them to the dim evening street. There were only a few figures lurching through the streets, which was lucky. Sanji stumbled out of the truck pulled along by the young doctor, he still felt slightly dazed and unsteady on his feet. Everyone was scattering, some in groups and some alone. Sanji, Chopper, and Robin set off together. As they passed the car they had crashed into, they saw that the other driver appeared to be alive, but was violently spasming. There was nothing they could do for that one, but Chopper insisted on checking on the driver of their vehicle. Unfortunately, he was already dead, blunt force of the steering wheel to the chest. The air bag must have malfunctioned, tough luck for that guy.

Unsure of what exactly to do, the newly formed trio moved slowly through the streets. It was fairly empty now that the others had run off, cars didn't pass through often anymore and people in houses, if there were any, remained out of sight. It was decided that finding a place to stay would be best, but also very difficult. They did run into a few infected individuals. Once spotted they became targets of a driven madness. Sanji was good about disabling them before they got too close, despite his throbbing head. He kicked them aside when they got too close. Ever the gallant knight, he had to protect the women and children.

After walking around for about an hour without any luck, an ugly green van drove by. It was hideous, but it also gave them hope, every time a car drove by that little bit of hope leaped up only to be squashed down as it passed by them. This van had at first seemed like it was going to pass them by, but at the last minute it made a dangerous looking swerve and stopped at the sidewalk. The three of them ran over to the vehicle. Even through the glass they could hear a woman shouting at someone. The window rolled down and her angry shouts became clear.

"You can't just grab the wheel like that! I could have crashed!" They could see the woman with orange hair yelling at the boy wearing a straw hat sitting in the passenger seat.

"Nami, we couldn't just leave them," the boy complained as he grinned at them. "Hi, I'm Luffy," he greeted them warmly, "Need a ride?"

"Yes," Robin answered, "Very much. We were in an army truck and it crashed. We have nowhere to go."

"You can come with us!" Luffy said enthusiastically.

"Shut up, we need to look out for ourselves, moron, we can't let more strangers come with us," Nami argued, glaring at them with eyes that judged them with suspicion.

"Just ignore her," Luffy said dismissively, "You should get in, it'll be awesome."

"Are you sure?" Chopper asked nervously. 

"Positive," the boy grinned.  
The car was put into park and the door slid open automaticity with the touch if a button. In the back there was another man, this one had hair the strangest shade of green.

"That's Zoro, by the way. We picked him up in Detroit," Luffy supplied. 

"How is it over there?" Robin asked as she climbed inside and took a seat.

"Not good," answered Nami, "It looks like some sort of war zone now."

"What did you do before all of this?" Robin asked.

Chopper and Robin sat in the back while Sanji was seated next to Zoro. Sanji noticed that the green haired man had three sheathed swords with him like some sort of samurai. A curious choice of weapon, but Sanji could focus on that later, now a beautiful lady was talking.

"I am a meteorologist," Nami said as she dodged an old man stumbling his way across the road.

"I worked in a factory that made balloons," luffy laughed.

"I guess that answers the age old question then," Sanji said with a laugh.

"And what question is that?" Nami asked.

"Where do they make balloons?" He shrugged.

Her eyes narrowed in the reflection of the rearview mirror. "I feel like you're referencing something I don't get."

"It's okay, I didn't expect you to get it." What could he say? He was a fan of They Might Be Giants. "What are you then?" Sanji nudged the silent man beside him.

"State highway patrol," he grumbled with a glare.

Oh yeah, he seemed the sort who would take down the criminals. Although he looked more like he would beat them to death than throw them in prison.

"Then why do you have three katanas and not a taser or a gun?" Sanji said, eyeing the swords.

"I was going to a tournament," Zoro said simply. He didn't seem to be much of a conversationalist.

"Oh, now I understand completely," Sanji said sarcastically. "Sorry, I was just wondering because you look pretty shifty sitting there, glaring at me."

"I could say the same," Zoro hissed, his glare darkening with suspicion, "What the hell happened to you?"  
"I was hit with a metal pipe," Sanji rolled his eyes like it was a normal thing.

"Why?"

"Because I was standing too close when the guy swung it," Sanji told him.

"Well, I guessed that much, idiot."  
"Then why did I have to tell you, dumbass?"

"I was asking why someone was swinging a pipe, not the process of how you were hit."

"There are crazy people running through the streets. Why the hell do you think someone would be swinging a pipe around?"

"Oi, you two stop," Nami told them irritably, "I'm trying to focus." She had pulled over and had a map laid out in her lap.

"Where are we headed?" Robin wondered.

Hm, that seemed like something they should probably know.

"I know a guy with a farm," Luffy explained.

"But he doesn't know exactly where it is," Nami huffed.

"I told you, it's somewhere in here," Luffy poked the map, drawing a circle in a general area.

Nami shook her head with a hopeless sigh, "Fine, I guess that's the best we're going to get," she said, setting the car into drive and pulling away from the sidewalk.  
They drove out of the city, carefully avoiding people and cars. Nami only hit one of the infected, which was actually pretty impressive because they were everywhere and she only nicked it in the side. It barely got any blood on the car.

Along the way this new group discovered that Zoro and Sanji should not be allowed to sit next to each other. Halfway out of the city Nami had to stop so that Chopper could switch places with Sanji because the two would not stop bickering about stupid things that no one cared about. They went together like water and oil, like bald people and hair brushes, like sharp edges and people with low self-esteem.

They were nearly out of the city when Nami slammed on her breaks just in time to not hit the man who stood in front of the car, hands raised in fear. Once the car stopped the man let his hands down slowly.  
Nami rolled down the window. "You okay?" she asked; he wasn't infected.

The man moved to the side if the car. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm a superhero anyway, so it's not like it would have done me any damage," he laughed nervously.

Luffy leaned over in interest. "Really?" he asked.

"Of course," the man said, "I'm the great Captain Usopp!"

"I'm Luffy, you want a ride?"

"Luffy, we can't just keep picking up people like this!" Nami protested.  
"Sure we can," Luffy laughed, "Get in."

The man hesitated for a moment but decided in the end to get into the car and squeeze in between Zoro and Chopper, although he looked terrified of the moss head.

"So then, 'Captain Usopp'," Robin smiled, "What were you before all of this?"

"I was an digital artist."

"That's a useful skill to have in an apocalypse," Zoro snorted.

"Don't be rude, seaweed brain,” Sanji scolded him.

"Fuck you."

"No, fuck you."

"Uh-uh, fuck you."

"No, fuck-"

"Will you two just stop!?" Nami shouted back at them, causing Sanji to apologize profusely.

They had to pass a military check before they left the city. The place they were going to was still within the confines of the quarantine but was on the edge of being out. Either way, everyone had to go through military check and they all obviously passed, so they were let through. None of them particularly wanted to stay to join the other refugees, that sounded pretty shitty, so they drove on. They were leaving the city behind now, the dying cesspool that it was quickly becoming. They were all glad to be gone from it but there was still that pang of sadness in the ones who had lived there.

The car ride was blissfully uneventful and quieter because Zoro fell asleep. Sanji wasn't allowed to sleep and if he did he had to be woken every hour, it wasn't very nice.

It was dark by the time they were approaching the farm, after Nami finally managed to track it down. The little farmhouse was surrounded by an ocean of cherry trees. A cherry flavored ocean, now there was an idea. 

Nami pulled into the long drive up the house and they all pressed to the windows looking for any sign of life. Nothing moved. Luffy quickly opened his door and started up toward the porch, knocking loudly.

"Brook! It's Luffy, open up!" the straw hat wearing boy shouted.

"Well, I hope there's no one hostile in there," Sanji said, unimpressed with Luffy's racket.

A light flicked on inside and a large, blue haired man stood in the doorway, grinning.

"Franky!" Luffy exclaimed, "Where's Brook?"

"He's trying to find some cat food, we saw a stray cat earlier and he wanted to feed it," Franky explained.

"Cool," Luffy grinned, "What are you doing here?"

"Brook's generator broke, so I came to be his super mechanic! I'm thinking about adding some modifications to it too," he laughed. "Who are these people?"

Each person was introduced in turn. "I picked them up on the way here," Luffy said proudly.

"I don't think you're supposed to let strangers into your car like that, bro."  
"It's the end of the world, who cares," Sanji scoffed.

"And you didn't pick me up," Nami said, "You just got into my car and wouldn't leave," she glared at Luffy.  
Sanji's eyebrow twitched at the stupid kid's method of meeting Nami but said nothing for now. He should just be thankful that Luffy had picked them up.

Luffy ignored her as they stepped inside and another man came into the room, bag of cat food in hand.  
"Luffy!" the tall, gaunt man laughed, "I'm glad to see that you are still in one piece."

"Yeah, there were dead people all over the place!" Luffy exclaimed.

"They aren't dead," Chopper cut in, trying to be the voice of reason, "They're just very sick."

"But they look like zombies," Luffy said, sounding confused.

"So do actors in make-up, but that doesn't make them the real deal," Zoro pointed out.

"Zoro looks like a person but that doesn't mean he's not a moss monster," Sanji said.

Zoro growled at him like a stupid mossy dog. Ew, that would be the ugliest dog ever.

"Things are not always as they seem," Robin chimed in a rather cliché way, ignoring the tension between Sanji and Zoro.

"Yeah, anyway, we came to ask if you have room for us to stay," Luffy said, getting back on track.

"Of course I do!" Brook laughed, "You are always welcome here, as are all your friends!"

Luffy cheered and everyone was ushered further inside. It was a rather large house for just one person to live in so Brook was happy to fill it.

The house had three bedrooms. One was obviously Brooks's, one became the girls’ room, and the other became the boys’ room. Franky lived up the road and said that if they ever got too cramped he had a spare room as well. Brook wanted to share his room for the sake of fairness but no one wanted to infringe on their host's hospitality.  
In the boys’ room they drew straws to see who got to sleep on the bed and who had to sleep on the floor. Zoro and Sanji got the bed but five minutes after the lights were turned out Zoro was kicked off the bed and they all knew that it wasn't going to work out. So they did a redraw and Luffy and Usopp got the bed. Sanji and Zoro's sleeping bags were set up far apart on the floor and Chopper slept close to Sanji in order to wake him up every hour.  
When morning came Sanji felt like he had hardly slept at all. But he got up all the same and insisted on making breakfast, which turned out completely amazing. He made sure to use as little food as he could manage while still keeping everyone well fed.

When he brought out the meal everyone was already seated.  
"It smells wonderful, Sanji," Robin commented as a plate of food was set down in front of her.

"It tastes even better." Sanji winked, out of the corner of his eye he saw Zoro roll his eyes but ignored it and continued to lay out the plates.

Once the food was tasted the shower of compliments rained down on him. Luffy in particular wanted him to cook him a mountain's worth of meat. Unfortunately, they mostly just had non-meat products available. Still, everyone had something good to say about Sanji's cooking, a fact which stroked his ego soothingly like a cat. Well, everyone except Zoro. That fact was like the tip of a blade pressed into the skin of his forehead. It was painful but it didn't do too much damage and he just wanted to kick the one inflicting the irritation. At least the marimo looked like he enjoyed it for half a second before he closed off him emotions like a Vulcan. Maybe he was an alien, that would make sense. Why not? It was the end of the world after all. Who said that the aliens couldn't get in on the fun too?

Once breakfast was over with, they took a tour of the farm. They saw all the cherry trees and the cellar filled with preserved foods. That was very good. They would have enough food for a good while. The property was very pretty, flat and open, but under the clear blue sky it was almost believable that it was just a normal day. But normal days were done now.

Post tour everyone split up to do whatever. Sanji made his way outside. Drawing out one of his few remaining cigarettes, he placed it in his mouth and lit the end with his lighter. He let out a long sigh, it was going to be a bitch when he ran out.  
He heard something move behind him and looked over to see Zoro staring at him with a look of disgust.

"What?" Sanji asked irritably.

"Nothing, I'm sure you know how fucking gross those things are."

"I'm sure you know how gross your fucking face is."

"Wow, that was mature."

"What can I say? I am the embodiment of maturity here," he gestured down to himself.

"Right."

"What, don't believe me?"

"No, I don't."

"What can I do to prove myself?" He paused in false consideration, "Oh, I know, I'll just beat you up."

Zoro laughed, "I'd like to see you try, curly brow."

"What was that?"

"You heard me, shit cook."

"Okay, that's it. You better hope those stupid swords of yours aren't just for show." Sanji stormed forward, intent on kicking Zoro's face in.

"Come and find out."

Zoro drew out one sword, raising it with the back side as Sanji's foot came soaring toward his head. Sanji was grateful that he didn't need the sharp edge, he didn't wasn't to ruin his shoes. At a time like this he wasn't about to get another pair anytime soon.

Sanji came about for another kick, this time aimed lower, it was dodged and the whisper of a sword flashed past Sanji's face.

Duck, dodge, swing, hit. It was like a dance and it flowed as naturally as water. They fought until were out of insults to hurl at each other and covered in minor injuries. Neither of them had managed to land a very solid hit, which was frustrating but it made the fighting all the more exhilarating. Eventually, they were too exhausted to keep up their original pace and all at once they were on the ground wrestling around. Zoro had the advantage there, being the muscly hunk he was. Not that Sanji was thinking that, no, it was just simply a fact of nature.

Zoro managed to pin him with a deal of difficulty and took his finger to draw a line across the blond's throat like a blade.

"You're dead," he panted.

"Yeah, shut up, muscle head, it's not like either of us were trying our hardest."

"But I still won," Zoro grinned.

"I thought I said shut up," Sanji growled, shoving the swordsman off of him. Zoro rolled off without protest and laid back on the ground next to him.

As they lay there bruised and slightly bloody Sanji thought maybe things wouldn't be so bad here. Sure it wouldn't be perfect, but the place had potential and the people weren't half bad either. Except Zoro, Zoro was a bastard.


	2. The Sun Goes Down II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Ann Arbor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I'll find my way to the sea
> 
> I'll run before it ends
> 
> Oooh, the sun is going down
> 
> I'm saying goodbye, bye, bye"
> 
> -"The Sun Goes Down II" Soléy

Sanji was sitting in the hammock on brooks porch, looking out at the field of ripe cherry trees. It was time for the cherries to be harvested, although a lot would go to waste. What would they do with an industrial shit ton of cherries? Make a lot of cherry related food. That would get dull very quickly. 

They had been on the farm for about four months. The warm July sun beamed down on the lush grass and somewhere off in the distance a cicada was calling. If it could be called that. It didn't seem much like a call, more like someone dragging a stick back and forth across a washboard. Still, it was the sound of summer here, summer in the country. 

The country was nice and all, but part of Sanji missed the city and the people. Their contact with the outside world had been fairly limited. They had most of what they needed on the farm and if they didn't have it, a nearby farm probably did. They didn't get a lot of people coming though this area, infected or otherwise, so it wasn't especially exciting. 

It was hard to say what was going on out there. The cable and internet wouldn't work, and the power was down. Although, Brook had an amazing generator to keep things operational. They had one of those little crank radios, but all they could get was static and recorded warnings playing over and over. It was weirdly like being trapped inside a bubble. For that reason Luffy would every so often arrange a little outing to a nearby town or back to Ann Arbor. The military line had gone farther back and the city was pretty much fucked, there were a lot of infected there and even more dead bodies after all this time. They had only gone back once, but Luffy intended to go again. The towns were more manageable, although they were also pretty wrecked. 

Back on the farm, they had pretty much become field hands because there wasn't really much else to do, aside from taking care of the trees. It was hard word, especially in the sun, but it was better than doing nothing. Before it had just been maintenance, now with the trees full of fruit they had to collect the cherries and get them all ready for storage.

The days had, for the most part, fallen into a sort of routine. Sanji would get up and make breakfast as interesting as he could with his limited supplies, everyone would go out to take care of the trees, they would take their lunch break and halt work for the hottest part of the day, they would finish up in the orchard or in storage, they would have dinner, and goof around for the rest if the night. More often than not, Franky was at the house so that he wouldn't spend all his time by himself and so he could help in managing the machinery. 

Sanji sighed as he watched the wispy clouds move slowly through the sky. He was considering going inside to get something to drink when the hammock tipped until it was vertical. Luckily, Sanji managed to grab the netting before he could face plant into the porch. 

"What the fuck!?" Sanji shouted, looking over to see Zoro with a very disappointed expression on his face. 

"I was hoping you would fall," the idiot said. 

"I can see that, but fortunately for me, I have the reflexes of a cat." He set his feet on the ground as Zoro let the hammock fall back into placed. He retook his former spot. "Why are you bothering me?"

The initial sparks of anger had not faded away between the two of them, but they had settled into a weird sort of familiarity. Sanji couldn't say in good conscious that he hated the muscle head, but he'd rather die than say otherwise, and in an extraordinarily grotesque way at that. They had a weird mutual-hate-but-not-totally thing going on. 

"There's nothing else to do," Zoro said, laying on his stomach on the hammock beside the blond and causing them to be pulled together by the shift in the center of weight.

"Aren't there bags of liquid metal for you to lift or something?" Sanji said, leaning away from the marimo. 

"Why the hell would there be bags of liquid metal? What could they possibly be used for?" Zoro looked perplexed. 

Sanji gritted his teeth, "Shut up, I realized it was stupid as the words were leaving my mouth, don't rub it in."

"I already did my daily routine, now I want a nap and you are on the hammock." He was like a big, stupid cat. 

"I was here first," Sanji protested, placing a foot on the marimo's side and pushing him away. 

Instead of letting himself be pushed around, Zoro grabbed the offending foot and flipped into his side so he could better shove Sanji backwards. The blond flailed helplessly for a moment before grabbing Zoro's arm and using it to keep on the hammock. 

Seeing as Sanji was leaning over the side of the netting, Zoro shifted his weight so that the hammock went vertical, but Sanji had hooked his legs over the top like some sort of bat and was just hanging there with his face rapidly turning red with blood. 

"I'm not leaving," Sanji said stubbornly. 

"Fine," Zoro said, letting the hammock fall back again with the two of them still on it. He moved so that he was taking up the whole of the hammock, putting his legs over top of Sanji's stomach, as the blond was still mostly dangling over the sides. 

"You are the worst," Sanji said, trying to sit up, but Zoro pressed his legs down over his stomach, keeping him pinned. For a moment he was too irritated to move, so he just leaned back and watched the clouds moved while his head hung upside down. 

It seemed a lifetime ago that he had last been in the Baratie with Zeff, and even longer ago that the restaurant had functioned to it's original purpose of proving food for money. 

He wondered what Zeff was even doing now. Had he even gotten back to the Baratie alive? And even if he had, would he still be alive now? Sanji liked to think that the old man was still out there but he got a sinking feeling in his gut whenever he thought about it. 

Sanji jolted as he felt a physical poke in his gut. He sat up quickly to glare at Zoro, the world spinning from all that blood in his head. 

"Don't do that!" Sanji shouted at him, trying to push him off the netting. 

"You seemed too serious, I had to interrupt or who knows what would have happened," Zoro said wisely. 

"You idiot, what if I had been on the verge of answering the answer to life, the universe, and everything?"

"I already know the answer to life, the universe, and everything; it's forty two."

"Touché, but you know what I meant."

"There is no universe possible where you could have been thinking such a deep thought, so I wouldn't have to feel bad about interrupting."

"Aw, you would feel bad?" Sanji cooed mockingly. 

"Carefully, blondie, or I might punch you in your smug fucking face."

"You wouldn't dare lay a finger on my beautiful face," Sanji said, brushing a hand over his cheek. 

Without pausing to think, Zoro placed a hand directly over the blond's face. His grip was wide enough that he had a firm hold. 

Sanji stopped laughing. "I'm not impressed," he shook his head in disapproval, Zoro's hand moving with him. 

"Yes, you are. My disobeying your expectations is an attractive trait in the culture of your kind."

Sanji pushed away the hand. "My kind? And what kind is that?"

"The shitty city cooks."

"That sounds like a school mascot name or a really shitty gang name."

"Well, that's your species, so deal with it."

"And having people disobey us is somehow an attractive quality. Ew, when you say it like that it sounds like a sexual thing, I guess that's probably what you were going for."

"Yep, being out of control is a total turn on for your people," Zoro said, grabbing Sanji's face and squishing his cheeks together almost painfully. 

Sanji's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Are you hitting on me?"

"Me? I'm just the victim of a cultural misunderstanding. Now you're sexually attracted to me. What the hell am I going to do?"

"I know what I'm going to do."

"What?"

Sanji managed to somehow kick Zoro in the gut while still sitting and grabbed his face. 

"Dear Sanji," Sanji said, moving Zoro's mouth along with his words, "I'm so sorry for being such a stupid idiot all the time and for being so ungrateful for every you do, and for being a Neanderthal. I just can't help it, it's who I am. Always remember how much I love you."

Though out the process of Sanji making him talk, Zoro was struggling to reclaim control of his mouth, so there was a lot of swearing going on. 

In the background, the door to the house swung open and Nami stepped out to see Sanji half laying on Zoro in the hammock, hand squishing his cheeks, while Zoro looked very angry. It was sadly only a little stranger than usual. 

"Should I come back later?" Nami asked, amused. 

"N-" was all Sanji could managed before he was shoved from the hammock and onto the ground. From there he kicked the bottom of the net and pushed Zoro over the other side. "No, what did you want, my darling?" Sanji finished. 

"Well, if you idiots are done, it's time to go back out," she gestured to the trees. 

Sanji quickly sat up and saluted her, "We will go immediately," Sanji promised as Zoro groaned. So Sanji kicked him off the porch and into the grass. 

Nami sighed, "Just hurry." And she turned, walking out toward the trees. 

Sanji beamed as she turned and left. Considering beating Zoro up a little more, but obeying Nami was the most important thing at the moment. He got up and headed after her. Zoro got up and followed him at a fast pace, soon they were trying I out pace each other and then it turned into a full on race, which they tied. 

Yep, just your typical summer's day.

XxxX

Time ticked on and suddenly it was late November, eight months since things had dissolved into chaos, and Luffy was getting stir crazy. It was strange how slowly months seemed to pass slowly on the farm after all the cherries were dealt with and they hadn't been out anywhere in a long time.

Going out seemed like a very bad idea and someone had to look after the farm. So, it was decided that Sanji, Nami, Luffy, and Zoro would go into Ann Arbor together. Nami would know where they needed to go and if things got bad they could handle themselves. Their objective, other than entertaining Luffy, was to salvage anything left of use. At this point not much would probably be left, but all the same anything they could find would be useful. They would be staying the night in the city. They would travel as far as they could during the day, sleep through the night, and come back the next day. That was Luffy's idea. 

The group were to drive part of the way up, then walk into the actual city because the roads were an absolute mess of crashed cars, as they had discovered on their previous venture.

They all piled into the van and Nami drove off. 

Sanji was looking out the window at the passing fields, thinking about time travel for no particular reason. He was imagining how much it was suck to be stuck in the past. At least people in the past didn't know how messed up their stuff was. There was a tv show with a plot somewhere along those lines. What was it called? 

"Hey," Sanji spoke up, "Does anyone know the name of that kids show about people who get stuck back in time?" Sanji asked the other car dwellers. 

"Phill of the Future," Nami guessed. 

"Yeah, that's it," Sanji said happily. 

"Did you actually watch that show?" Nami laughed. 

"No, I was too old for that, and Zeff doesn't have a tv. I just remember a few times seeing it on when kids watched it."

"Who would let you around kids?" Zoro scoffed. 

"I was at one time a personal chef and the people who paid me had two kids," Sanji sniffed. 

"My sister's kid used to watched that show," Nami offered. 

"I used to watch that show," Luffy laughed. 

"What were you like sixteen when it was on? That's a little old to be watching Disney channel, isn't it?" Sanji laughed, although he wasn't surprised. 

"Nah, I liked that show," Luffy said happily. 

"I think the main guy was a villain on an episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," Nami said. 

"Wow, there's a great way to ruin someone's childhood right there," Sanji snorted. 

"Take the main character of a children's show and turn him into a rapist, yep that's pretty legit," Zoro nodded. 

Sanji turned to him. "I'm sorry, did you just use the word legit?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

"Nope, it just sounded a little weird coming out of you mouth is all," Sanji shrugged. 

"Your face looks weird coming out of you mouth," Zoro spat back. 

"...Yes it would. Anyway, if you guys could go to the future or the past where would you go?"

Nami was first to answer, "The past, but first I would read up on whatever time period I was sent to so I could accumulate the most wealth based on future events."

"Nami is so smart," Sanji swooned and Zoro started talking to shut him up. 

"I would go to Japan back when samurais were a big deal."

"So, you would want to be a mercenary?" Sanji raised an eyebrow, unsurprised, "As far as ancient Asian warriors go, I think it would be more interesting to hang around with the mongols."

"But I'm Japanese, so it's like an interest in where I came from sort of thing too."

Sanji nodded, "Fair enough, what about you, Luffy?"

"I would go to the future and become a space pirate."

"What if there aren't any space pirates?" Nami asked. 

"Then I would be the first, but I would only go if you guys did. You could be my space pirate crew."

"Argh," Sanji said, curving his finger like a hook and closing one of his eyes like he had an eye patch, "Shiver me timbers. There be Klingons on the starboard bow, captain."

"Aye, man the cannons, ye rubber legged landlubbers!" Luffy laughed back. "I would be the best captain ever."

"Where would you go, Sanji?" Nami asked, glancing back at him. 

"I would go to the distance future and see what their food is like."

"I bet it's the same," Zoro said bleakly. 

"But what if it's like pill food, or capsule food, or alien food, or something. What if they use replicaters? It would be awesome!"

"It would be kind of awesome to bring someone from the past to the further too," mused Nami. "I could tell them how stupid they are." She liked that idea. 

"Just imagine telling George Washington what this country as come to," Sanji laughed, "I mean we were fine for a while, then we got infected by fucking zombies or something."

"I would like to bring all the founding fathers to the future and tell them all about today's politics, I feel like it would blow their minds," Nami grinned. 

"Wouldn't they smell terrible though?" Luffy pointed out. 

"Plus, they would be super racist and sexist," Zoro added. 

"Yeah, but everyone was like that back then. They would have to take a shower and they they could talk to us. We would have to just roll our eyes at their ignorance," Sanji said a little sadly. Why did super old people have to suck so badly? You find a historical figure you like and then later find out they were massively prejudice and it just ruins everything. 

"We could bring back a religious figure and make them do miracles for us," Zoro said. 

Sanji grimaced, "That sounds caontravercual."

"Nah, whatever religion we took it from would love us for bringing them one of their dudes or chicks or whoever we picked." 

"We could go back and start our own religion," Nami said, "I want a religion where I am god and everyone has to bring me money."

"I'm not following that religion," Zoro snorted. 

"It would be called Au-79," Nami smiled proudly. 

"That sounds more like a band name than a religion," Zoro said, but sanji kicked him for it. 

"That's a beautiful name, my dear."

"It's the name and atomic number for gold, so I thought it would be fitting."

"Very much- Pfffffff!" Sanji was cut off when a moth flew into his mouth. He quickly spat it out and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. 

"What was that?" Luffy asked. 

"A moth went all kamikaze and flew into the cook's mouth," Zoro said, "It died for a good cause. 

"Shut up, marimo." 

The rest of the car ride carried on with happy conversation. When they stopped the car no one was around, they made sure of that. The walk would be a few hours, but as long as they kept themselves quiet and out of the way nothing bad should happen. The weather was shockingly nice out for November. It was warm enough that they could get away with wearing only long sleeve shirts and pants, although they had coats with them as well, packed away in their backpacks. 

They had to walk all day in order to get inside the city, and when they were there they were disheartened by what they saw; it was even worse than their last visit. There were infected people shambling over dead bodies, shop fronts were smashed open and empty. They kept away from the shambling figures as best they could, but there were a lot. There were actually more than any of them had expected. After so many months they would have expected the infected to die from their inability to take care if themselves, but in looking at their blood spattered appearances they had obviously found something to sustain themselves. It was probably better to stay as far as possible, not just for their dangerous nature, but also for the host of diseases they must have been carrying.

Shuffling along down the street, they checked in every store they could. Most were empty, but some still held some few things of value that were swiftly pocketed. Things like a can of food, or some sort of tool that lay abandoned. 

They were working their way through a particularly infested part of the city, sneaking through an ally when Luffy had tripped. One moment he was walking along and the next he was sprawled on the ground. He had tripped over the lip of the sidewalk and at the time of his fall he had been trying to get a piece of paper out of a beer bottle he had found along the side of the road. A note from someone who didn't want to be forgotten. The bottle flew from the boy's hands and shattered on the ground loudly. In the near silent street the sound was like a gunshot and it drew all attention to it. 

Sanji's head snapped around and he swore as infected individuals started shambling toward them. He kicked their legs out from under them as they got close, that was the easiest thing to do. Zoro cut them down as they got close enough, although he had to be careful not to let any of the blood spatter on them, they didn't know if it would spread that way or not. Sometimes people seemed to get infected for no reason. 

Luffy had the most dangerous fighting style for this sort of thing. Punching people who were basically zombies took a lot of balls, or else a lot of stupid. 

The infected crowd swarmed around them. Had there really been so many before? What had they all come from? As they desperately fought their way out of the streets Nami and Luffy were separated from Sanji and Zoro by a very large infected man, by the time he was cut aside the two pairs could no longer see one another. 

Sanji swore again, although really he had never stopped swearing, as they were swept out of sight and refocused his effort on getting these things that were once people away from him. His style of fighting wasn't as well adapt for this as Zoro's was. No matter how hard he kicked they kept crawling forward if they were able to. It was very frustrating. 

A bulky man charged the chef as he was kicking a woman away at his side, it made him extremely unhappy to do so but she wasn't really human anymore anyway and she was trying to rip him apart. That did little to console him, but he had to keep pressing on. As the thing tackled him, Sanji was knocked flat onto his back, gasping for air. He fought to get oxygen back into his lungs as he tried to scrambled backward, kicking the thing off of him. He watched Zoro fighting his way toward him with his lovely katanas. There were just too many, Sanji could hear them stumbling toward him and there were hands clenching at him, but he didn't have enough time to react. Not enough space to breathe. 

Zoro shouted out something just as Sanji felt teeth close around his shoulder. At the touch he jerked his body to the side, with as much force as he could muster. It wasn't enough, the teeth snagged on his skin and sunk into his flesh. His shirt separated the mouth and his skin, but the head jerked to the side like a dog breaking a rabbit's neck and tearing open a wound in his skin. He was struggling to hold back a scream as he desperately tried to get away.

Then Zoro was there, he stabbed the figure in the eye, but it only clenched down harder. So he had to push it in farther so he could penetrate the brain. It was not an easy task, as he slashed at the other swarming figures. With a sudden release of tension the thing collapsed and Sanji was freed. Zoro yanked him to his feet, dragging him toward one of the many empty buildings. Zoro slammed the door shut behind them and Sanji dragged a chair over, sticking it up under the door knob.

With that done the two stopped to catch their breath. Sanji shoulder was beginning to sting and the adrenalin that had been coursing through his veins started to filter out. He felt numb with shock as he felt the blood was spreading slowly down his shirt, staining the light blue fabric. Zoro set down his swords and walked over to Sanji.

"Take your shirt off," he urged breathlessly as he examined the spreading redness.

Sanji hastily pulled the shirt over his head, the wound screaming in protest, but he did not make a sound. He dropped the bloody fabric to the floor as Zoro studied the bite mark. It was round and jagged, but in the rough shape of a human mouth. It was deep, but not so deep that it cut into the muscles. Quickly, Zoro brought out a bottle of disinfectant that Chopper had made him take and unscrewed the cap.

"You know that's not going to help, it'll just be a waste," Sanji said darkly as he stared at the dirty floor. Maybe the contact hadn't been directly mouth to flesh, but a bite was a bite. 

"You don't know that," Zoro said stubbornly, not halting in his actions. 

"I know that maybe with enough time and sanitary material it might be possible to save me, but not here." He cast his eyes around the filthy room. He remembered a doctor telling him that the chances of becoming infected with rabies might be lessened considerably with the use of soap and water to clean out the wound, and that the same idea may apply, but it all depended on the dormancy time for the virus. That was back when he was still with Zeff, it felt like an eternity ago and the old man was probably dead. It was some consolation that he would have gone down fighting, but that wouldn't make him any less dead. 

"Shut up," Zoro told him as he poured the disinfectant onto the wound. Sanji held back a hiss at the pain.

If only he had been bitten on the arm or leg, thought Zoro, then he could just cut the limp off the prevent the spread, but even that would probably lead to death and he knew that the cook wouldn't let him chop off either of his arms. His hands were too precious to him. 

"I'm a dead man," Sanji said hollowly, as Zoro wrapped his shoulder with clean bandages. 

"Maybe we caught it early," Zoro offered, he wasn't willing to give up when there was the existing possibility of no infection. 

"And maybe we didn't. In any case it doesn't matter much because any human bite in general turns horrible and infected in time." One of the Baratie staff had gotten into a fight once before the outbreak and totally kicked the other guy's ass, but had sustained a bite on the arm, which got horribly infected and he had to be taken to the hospital. So, he won the fight but suffered the most in the end. 

"I guess we'll see, won't we?" Zoro said, pulling the bandage tightly enough to make Sanji wince. 

They had to stay inside long enough to let the crowd outside dissipate, so they decided to stay the night. They would got back to the car at the next light, at which point they would meet up with Luffy and Nami. Poor Nami, stuck in a sea of monsters with an idiot. 

The two of them stayed in Sanji's thoughts as the two to them settled down to sleep. Zoro slept about as peacefully as he usually did, but Sanji couldn't sleep, not with the strange sounds or the sick coming from outside and not with the throbbing in his shoulder. He wondered where Nami and Luffy had gone. Hopefully somewhere safe.

If he did die here then Sanji hoped that they wouldn't have to see it happen. It would be an awful thing to witness and he had seen enough turn not to wish that fate on anyone. He hoped that Zoro wouldn't have to see him make that transformation either. Whether for the sake of his pride or for Zoro's sake he wasn't sure.

The blond lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling for a long while, although he eventually fell into an unstable sleep. When Sanji woke up it was in stiff discomfort. He felt hot and cold all over and world had taken on a strange, far away appearance. Zoro was there above him, shaking him awake. He was frowning rather unhappily. 

Sanji sat up slowly, his head swimming in vertigo. God, he felt terrible. 

"We have to go," Zoro was saying, "most of them are gone, but we have to go." They had to make their way back to the car, back to the spot were they hoped to meet up with Nami and Luffy again. If they waited they might miss their chance to get out. 

Sanji nodded and tried to stand, he only just managed it without falling. The earth seemed to be spinning far too fast for him.

Zoro put a hand on his shoulder to steady him, "Oi, are you okay?" he asked nervously. He took in Sanji's glazed eyes and pasty complexion. He pressed the back of his hand to Sanji's forehead; it was burning hot.

"I told you, it wasn't worth the effort. Now I'm gonna die and stuff..." Sanji moaned, his tongue felt heavy and he had to force the words out.

"It could just be infection," Zoro suggested. 

"Yeah, right," Sanji scoffed, but did not protest as Zoro pushed him into a chair where he could re-wrap the wound on his shoulder. 

"Don't be so pessimistic," Zoro said as he pulled away the gauze around the wound. He looked at the angry red skin. It didn't look horrible but it didn't look good either, the dried blood met with puffy red skin. It could be worse.

"Sorry, hard to stay optimistic under the threat of death my fucking insanity," Sanji grumbled, trying to look over at his shoulder. "It looks bad," he concluded. 

"Not as bad as I thought it would be," Zoro shrugged. 

"Oh? Harboring secret doubts about my condition are we, marimo? I thought you were just telling me not to be pessimistic."

"Shut up, I'm just trying to keep you from falling into a pit of despair."

Sanji scoffed, "It makes me feel better just knowing that you're looking out for me."

Zoro ignored his sarcasme as he redressed the injury, pulled Sanji's bloody shirt back over his head. They both ate some of the food they had scavenged up. Zoro knew they had to get back soon, Sanji needed to be treated as soon as possible and in his condition traveling would be difficult. Difficult, but manageable. He was going to get Sanji to Chopper and Chopper would fix this, he had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this was only supposed to be two chapters but it grew into three so just bare with me.
> 
> Also, why did I call this Super Rabies? It's so stupid it makes me laugh every time. And it's not super babies, that would be a much lighter story XD
> 
> Thanks.


	3. Afterlife

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When the world is breaking down around you  
> Taking everything that you know  
> What you didn't know  
> Is that we can go forever if we want to  
> We can live inside of a moment  
> The one that we own
> 
> -"Afterlife" Ingrid Michaelson

Zoro peaked out the window at the street, it was mostly empty, they should get out fine. They silently slipped out the door and into the street; nothing. All good so far.

Their journey started out strong, they spent maybe half an hour looking around for the others, but not finding them they pressed onward, they would meet again at the car if not sooner.

Sanji felt terrible, his head ached, and his body felt weak, but he started off strong and with a proud face. They didn't see very many people, if they could be called that, they all seemed to have moved to another area. The ones that they did see were quickly handled by Zoro. Sanji hated that he was being looked after, but he couldn't find the energy to put up a fight over it. That wasn't a good sign. He walked slowly and his feet felt like they were made of lead. His fever grew worse as the day went on.

When they had been waking at a slow pace for maybe three hours the blond had stumbled, fallen, and struggled to get up. In his stead, Zoro hoisted him to his feet again.

"Can you still walk?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"Yes, I'm fine," Sanji spat back indignantly, although he swayed were he stood. After that Zoro had to guide him, one hand on his wrist, in order to make sure that he didn't fall behind. This also wasn't great for their timing. Sanji had to move at an increasingly slow pace and Zoro wasn't especially familiar with the area, so he got turned around a few times. Sanji managed to catch him before they got too off course, but he was having enough trouble just keeping himself moving.

They stopped for lunch, but Sanji didn't want to eat anything, the same way people with the flu don't want to eat anything. He was afraid he might start puking his guts out and he didn't want to be weak and dehydrated, although he had yet to throw up. When they went to start moving again Sanji's legs gave out beneath him and he bad to be carried on Zoro's back. A humiliating thing he felt he would not have to suffer through much longer if he continued to spiral downward so quickly.

It was nearly four pm when the twitch started. It was only a slight tremor in the skin around the bite, but Sanji knew that that meant.

"I'm dying," Sanji said softly into Zoro's ear as he was carried down the empty road. There was only one twitching figure in the road and she seemed preoccupied with trying to beat her way into a wall, her fists bleeding from her incessant pounding.

"You are not," Zoro denied, not even looking at him.

"The twitching's started, in a few hours I'll be delirious," Sanji mumbled, mournfully.

"No, it hasn't," Zoro said.

"Yes, it has," Sanji insisted, grabbing one of the swordsman's hands and pressing it to the skin slightly above his bandages so he could feel the muscles twitching.

Zoro didn't say anything, but he was clearly unhappy about this development. His thumb traced along the twitching muscle as if trying to make absolutely sure that it was moving.

"What should we do?" wondered Sanji, as Zoro let his hand drop.

"Keep going until we get back to the car," Zoro insisted. Stubborn idiot, by that time Sanji would probably be trying to rip his throat out.

"You know I'm not going to make it that far," Sanji said sadly, tightening his hold on the swordsman. He was warm and Sanji had never felt so cold in his life, although he had put on the coat he had been carrying with him. It was much colder than yesterday, stupid weather not being able to make up it's mind. The clouds were dark and foreboding, it might snow or else rain. The last thing they needed was freezing rain.

"We still have to try," he said harshly, he was growing irritated of Sanji's pessimism. It just made him want to punch the idiot in the face and tell him that he'd be fine.

"Well, I don't want to be one of those things." The blue eyed man nodded to the thing that was once a girl beating her fists against the wall.

"And why are you telling me this?" He already knew why and it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"You know why," Sanji said gravly, "You can either let me do it while I still can, or you can do it. If I'm too far gone by the time you reach the car then I don't want to go back." He didn't want the others to see him in that state.

Zoro grit his teeth, "It won't get to that point. We'll find Chopper and he'll fix you up."

"But if it does happen?" Sanji pressed.

Zoro shook his head dismissively, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." He wouldn't answer anymore questions along that train of thought after that.

Time seemed to pass even more slowly after that, it crawled on like a wounded animal or like Sanji. Zoro could feel the heat radiating off of Sanji's fever hot skin as they walked along. The cook didn't say much, he was half asleep most of the time, but when he was awake Zoro could tell his state was worsening.

"I don't like it when they watch us," Sanji said after waking from his sleep.

"When who watches us?" Zoro asked hesitantly.

"Them," Sanji glanced around nervously, "I don't like it. They don't have eyes. They shouldn't watch if they don't have eyes."

So, the hallucinations were starting to set in. Wonderful. "How do they watch us if they don't have eyes?" Zoro asked, deciding to humor the cook rather than try to convince him that he was seeing things.

"They see with their mouths," Sanji hissed, tightening his death grip on Zoro's neck. If he wasn't careful he might accidentally suffocate him, then neither of them would make it out of this city.

"That sounds pretty gross," Zoro wrinkled his nose.

Sanji nodded in agreement, "It is. They want to see us consumed."

"By the infected?" Zoro guessed.

"No.." he trailed and paused like he was listening to something. "They don't like me much, marimo," he said sadly, like he was sorry to have disappointed them, whoever they were.

"Do they talk with the mouths too?" Zoro wondered if their eyes would get in the way of talking, but then Sanji had said they didn't have eyes.

"Obviously," Sanji said like that was a stupid question.

"What do they think about me then?" The swordsman enquired.

"They think you have a pretty face," Sanji said, sounding put out.

"Do they?" Zoro laughed.

"Yeah, they won't shut up about it," the doomed man grumbled.

A smirk was making it's way across the swordsman's face, "Maybe they're trying to tell you something."

"Maybe you're stupid."

"Maybe you're delusional."

"I am delusional and my shoulder really hurts," Sanji whined. His shoulder had been starting to twitch more and more. It wasn't violent yet, but it was annoying.

"We can't stop right now, love cook, you'll have to suffer though it," Zoro sighed.

"Aw, fuck that. Hey, shut up it's not funny!" Sanji shouted off to their right. There was nothing there. It sent a trickle of uncomfortable worry down Zoro's spine. If he stated yelling like that he would attract a lot of attention. He was glad that Sanji had been asleep while they had walked thorough the more infected areas.

"Don't listen to them, cook, they don't know what they're talking about," he said, trying to sound reassuring and not like he was dealing with a crazy person.

Sanji groaned, "My head hurts so bad."

"It's only a little ways longer."

"You're a liar and you know it."

"Just go to sleep and we'll be there."

Sanji hummed, dropping his head to Zoro's shoulder. "You're worse than Usopp," he mumbled, but went back to sleep all the same.

XxxX

It was dark out now, dragging Sanji along had set them behind on their way out and they had to stop for the night. Sanji didn't weigh much, but Zoro was still worn down from carrying him around all day.

Sanji was delirious again when they made their shelter in the shell of what had once been a bike shop according to the storefront.

"We can't stay here!" Sanji pleaded desperately, "The roots will get us and take our blood away!" He sounded on the verge of tears when Zoro finally set him down.

"I'll protect you," Zoro sighed, pulling up the hem of Sanji's shirt in order to get to his bandages.

"No!" Sanji moaned, pushing his shirt down weakly. "I'd rather have them steal my fingers than have you protect me like a princess."

Zoro pushed the hands aside and got the shirt over Sanji's head. "I thought they wanted blood."

"They aren't picky. They want you too, so I don't see why you're being so calm about this," Sanji huffed.

"That because it's all in your head, curly brow," Zoro said, poking Sanji's forehead.

"It is n-" Sanji's words caught in his throat as he stared at something to the left of Zoro's head. He cowered back.

"What is it?" Zoro asked, trying to pull the blond forward so he couldn't squirm away. He looked behind him, although he wasn't expecting to see anything and he was correct in that expectation; there was nothing there.

Sanji made a choking sound and started to struggled his way out of Zoro's grasp, fighting with all of his might, his shoulder jerking violently.

"Calm down," Zoro insisted, as he struggled with the blond, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Get off!" Sanji shouted, his breath coming only with effort as he started trying to tear at the skin of his throat.

There was a banging on the door, apparently one of the things had heard Sanji's shouting. Zoro just hoped that the door would hold. He grabbed both of Sanji's hands and pulled them together and hold the thrashing blond still, but wrapping his arms around his chest like a very violent hug. Sanji continued to struggle against whatever strange thing he was seeing until he expended his little effort and dissolved into a sobbing mess.

It was rather disconcerting to see the cook so fucked up, even more so for Zoro who wasn't used to dealing with normal people's emotions let along whatever this was. Sanji was limp in his arms now and the tears were flowing freely down his face. He let him lean back against the wall in order to better assess the damage.

He looked totally horrible. His skin was pale, his eyes bright with fever and swollen with tears, his shoulder kept involuntarily twitching, and he was muttering something indistinguishable under his breath. Trying to get him to eat or drink was impossible. It must have been very bad if he was refusing to eat for so long, or maybe he didn't want to waste the food on a dead man. That seemed like something Sanji would do. He eventually cried himself into a lulled state of calm, but he couldn't sleep. The banging on the door had disappeared, although every so often there would be a knock that would jolt the two of them into attention. It was pretty fucking terrifying.

"Will you at least drink something now?" Zoro asked the subdued blond.

Sanji shook his head weakly and winced as another jolt came over his body.

The green haired man sighed and came a little closer, putting his hand on the side of Sanji's neck, then on his forehead. The act was unnecessary, he knew the fever was bad, but it was something to do and Sanji seemed to appreciate the cool touch, seeing as he leaned in.

"My mom used to kiss my forehead to check my temperature," Sanji said blearily, that was one of the few things he actually remembered about his mom. He seemed to be more lucid now, although the tears were starting to form in his eyes again. He wiped them away and kept his eyes on the marimo in front of him.

"I'm not your mom," Zoro said only because he didn't know what else to say.

"No," Sanji sighed, "you're not. My mom is dead, just like me."

"You're not dead," Zoro growled.

"Not yet, but I will be," Sanji assured him as there was another twitch and his head smacked against the wall.

Zoro moved forward and placed a hand on Sanji's bandages, pealing them up in order to change them. The bite mark was now an angry red around the edges and clearly infected. Zoro paused, at a loss for what to do, he wished Chopper was there to handle this.

"I told you," Sanji laughed humorlessly.

"How badly does it hurt?" Zoro said, pouring on the disinfectant he had left and rewrapping it. It was difficult because of the shaking.

"I'm going to say it's about a six," Sanji smiled weakly.

"But what is it really?" Zoro asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"About an eight and a half," Sanji managed.

Zoro sighed and helped him back into his shirt. He smoothed his hand down the front of the fabric, as he knew Sanji would do if he had the energy to. His hand may have lingered for a moment because Sanji grinned at him, or at least he tried to grin, it was pained and unsteady.

"Has my imminent death uncovered the buried feelings for me you always secretly had?" he asked impishly.

Zoro rolled his eyes. "You wish, idiot face."

"Aw, don't get all bashful on me now, shit head," Sanji all but giggled, giggling wasn't very manly, "Damn, I shouldn't have said anything. I've lost my chance."

"Chance at what?"

"End of the world sex," Sanji said, giving his best alluring face. He was a sexy bastard after all, even when he was dying.

Zoro was apparently not allured. "Wow, you fucking pervert, you still want to have sex in your current condition and with a dude no less?"

"Not just a dude, you," Sanji pointed out, "And okay, maybe sex wouldn't be great right now. I'd probably throw up, but I mean, if you jerked me off I wouldn't complain," he giggled again.

Zoro gave him a withering look, "Nope, just shut your big mouth, ero cook."

"But if I stop now I might not start again." There was a hint of fear in his tone.

"Fine, then. Keep talking but change the subject." Zoro said.

Sanji smirked but did change the topic. "So, if you could do one thing before you died what would it be?"

Zoro groaned, he was hoping for a lighter topic, "Isn't that a little morbid given the situation?"

"Shut up and answer the question, asshole."

"Fine, I would become the world's greatest swordsman," Zoro shrugged, Sanji knew about his goal so he didn't expect it to be much of a surprise.

Sanji was not satisfied, "Too obvious. That's like a huge goal to work toward. I just meant something you could splurge on."

Zoro thought for a moment, that was really the only thing he wanted. "Hm, I guess I'd take a long nap and when I woke up I could fight to the death and die. Or however it is that I die."

"You would take a nap before you slept forever? That's stupid."

"Well, what would you do then?"

"I would go meet Alton Brown because I used to watch his cooking show all the time before I went to bed," Sanji smiled wistfully.

"I thought you said that Zeff didn't have a TV," Zoro pointed out.

"He doesn't, but there was a girl down the road who let me watch it at her house."

"She let a scrawny little boy into her house to watch a dumb cooking show?"

"I charmed her, obviously, and I cooked for her parents so they let me stay."

"What show was Alton Brown on?"

"Good Eats," Sanji smiled.

"Never heard of it."

"I didn't expect you to. But if I went with my gut instinct I would find All Blue and then I would die." Sanji had talked about All Blue before so that wasn't such a strange thing.

"Just drop dead as soon as you got there?"

"Yep, it's probably too cool for me anyway. Plus, I've built it up in my head, so there's no way it's going to meet my expectations," Sanji sighed.

"Man, dying is making you a real bummer to be around," Zoro frowned.

"So you admit that I'm dying," Sanji accused, pointing his finger a little too far and poking him almost in the eye.

"Shut up, you are not," Zoro objected, shaking aside the clumsy finger.

"But you just-"

"Don't listen to me, I'm an idiot."

"Wh-"

"Shh..."

During the night Sanji pain increased greatly. It was not to the point of screaming, but he made pathetic, painful noises that made Zoro's heart tighten. There wasn't much to be done about it. Zoro did what he hoped was comforting. Sanji clung to him tightly, the grip was awkward because he kept twitching, and Zoro brushed his hand gently through his pretty blond hair, traced cool circles on his too warm skin. The contact should have felt awkward, them being who they were, but somehow it didn't.

There was one time were the pain had been particularly bad and Sanji had grabbed him by the front of his shirt and smashed their mouths together. The contact was brief and Sanji jolted to the side.

"Just let me die," Sanji pleaded brokenly, "Please."

"We're almost there," Zoro said sadly.

"But I kissed you so you have to grant me a wish."

"Sorry, I'm not some fairy whore. No wishes for kisses here."

Sanji made a strangled sound and buried his face and Zoro's shoulder as the swordsman rubbed his back soothingly.

They got at most an hour of sleep between them, but then it was morning again and they had to get moving.

Traveling was even harder now. Sanji was almost constantly twitching and making painful noises that attracted attention and made him difficult to carry. The transformation was coming faster than Zoro had anticipated. At this rate the blond would probably be fully gone by the end of the day. He was already more out of it than in at this point. It was becoming increasingly difficult to justify carrying him around when he knew there was nothing to be done.

By midday Zoro had made up his mind on what to do. The sky was overcast and a cold wind blew lazily over buildings and through alleys. Zoro took cover with Sanji inside the remains of an decaying Starbucks. The blond was violently shaking, but his mind was the clearest it had been all day. Zoro was quiet for a long moment, trying to figure out what do say.

Sanji smiled at him painfully, understanding his dilemma. "You know what to do."

"I'm not sure I can," Zoro said, sounding lost.

"Yes, you can. I would say I could do it for you, but I physically don't think I'm capable," he looked down at his trembling hands. "If you really can't do it then leave me here, I don't want anyone else to see me like that. If you do, then don't drag back my body with you, that's creepy."

Zoro was at a loss for words. "How do you want to-"

"Whatever way's easiest," Sanji cut in.

"If I cut the caroted artery you would bleed out the quickest."

"Then like that."

"Would you rather it be in your sleep?" Dying while sleeping sounded easier than dying while awake, at least you were relaxed while it happened.

"Probably, but I don't if I can now, with you trying to kill me and all," he laughed, "but who am I kidding? Of course I can sleep, I'm sick right now after all," he hummed letting his eyes close, "I think everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before one of us killed the other, but I always hoped it would be me kicking your face in."

Zoro sat down beside the blond, resting his back against the wall and placing Sanji's head in his lap. He didn't object. "You wish, blondie," he said, although the response sounded weak.

Sanji let out a sad sounding laugh. "This is pretty gay, you know," he snorted, opening his eyes for a moment to stare up at Zoro.

"As I remember, you kissed me last night so it's not the gayest thing we've ever done."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. It's all kind of hazy. Maybe I should do it again, just so I have the memory clearly before I die. Actually, it's probably not a good idea, my spit might infect you." He looked worried.

Zoro sighed, the idiot was probably right. "Shut up and go to sleep, one kiss is enough," his hand started stroking the blond hair without a thought.

Sanji let his eyes slide closed, but he didn't sleep yet. "My last sleep," he muttered, "I'll have to think of some awesome last words before I go."

"You better think quickly or I might lose my nerve," Zoro warned him.

Sanji smiled at that. "You have to tell the others that I'm sorry and that they're the best friends I've ever had," his voice trembled a little.

At first Zoro couldn't find his voice. "I will," he promised.

"And tell Nami she's amazing and beautiful. Tell Robin that she's gorgeous and really really smart. Tell Chopper that one day he'll be the greatest doctor ever, even if schools never become a thing again. Tell Brook that I secretly always thought his stupid jokes were funny. Tell Franky that he's a super guy. Tell Usopp that I'll always think of him as the great captain Usopp. Tell Luffy that I'm really really really sorry and I hope he'll forgive me for not being able to cook for him ever again." Sanji's eyes flashed open again and his eyes were blurred with tears. "I don't want to die," he whispered.

"Then don't." Zoro told him, his throat tight and horse.

"I have to or I'll be one of them. I didn't think it would be so hard."

"Not as hard as it will be for me, you won't have to live with this for much longer," Zoro pointed out sadly.

Sanji's tears were flowing now. "I'm really sorry to do this," he breathed.

Zoro shook his head. "I know, I would feel the same."

"I-" Sanji started, "I don't hate you," he said after a pause, "Sometimes I might even like you a little bit."

Zoro scoffed, "I figured that, you did kiss me and asked to be kissed again."

"I did?" Sanji said, startled. They had just talked about it and suddenly he had forgotten, his mind was like water.

"Yes," Zoro did not faulted, "and then you begged me to kill you or jerk you off or something."

"Oh, sorry," Sanji apologized.

"Don't worry about it," Zoro said, leaning down and pressing his lips to Sanji's burning forehead. "I guess I don't always hate you either," he said after pulling back.

"I feel the urge to dramatically say, don't remember me like this," Sanji mused.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't," Zoro chuckled, "I'm going to remember all the times you tried to kick my head in."

"Good that's exactly what I would have wanted."

"You talk like you're already dead."

"I am already dead."

"No, you aren't. Your heart is still beating, I can feel it." He pressed his hand to Sanji's neck to feel the pulsing if his heart.

Sanji ignored him. "Hey, Zoro."

"What?"

"Don't forget me, yeah?" He gave a weak little smile.

Zoro returned the smile, it was just as weak, "I don't think I could if I tried."

"Good. What do you think will happen when I die?" Sanji asked, "I mean in a spiritual sort of way."

Zoro raised an eyebrow, "Do you want an honest answer?"

"I would be insulted if you didn't gave me one."

"Nothing. I don't think anything will happen. You'll be dead and that's it, nothing else."

Sanji mulled that over for a second. "I guess that's better than going to hell, I did kiss a man apparently so I'm supposed to be eternally damned or whatever."

"If you go to hell, make sure to kick satan's ass for me, okay?"

"I will most defiantly do that," Sanji grinned, then sighed. "I think I'm gonna try to sleep now."

"And what will be your famous last words?"

"Don't be too hard on yourself when I'm gone, moron. I won't be around anymore to come get you when you're lost, but I know you'll make sure everyone gets through this," he smiled, holding onto Zoro's wrist as he spoke.

Zoro didn't say anything, not trusting his voice, but nodded all the same.

"Say goodbye to everyone, okay?"

"I will."

And Sanji let his eyes fall closed.

It took a while for Sanji to find sleep and a selfish part of Zoro hoped that he never would. Wado was unsheathed in his hand, ready to act. Gradually, the chef's breathing began to even out and Zoro knew it was time to end it.

He raised his most precious katana with a shaking hand, thinking about what he would be putting an end to. No more angry words would pass those lips, he would never kick anyone's ass again, he would never swoon annoyingly over the girls, he never cook for the crew, he would never be anything other than dead. Dead dead dead. It wasn't fair, but waiting wasn't fair to Sanji.

The blade was millimeters from his exposed throat. A quick cut and it would be done. In quick series of motions he severed the carotid arteries on either side of the blond's neck. That wasn't specifically necessary, he would bleed out with just one cut, but better safe than sorry.

Sanji's feverish blue eyes flashed open for a moment, and Zoro savored that last glimpse at the blue color.

"Shit, fucking hell," the dying man gasped, but he only felt the blood gushing for a few seconds before he lost consciousness for the very last time. A few minutes later his body gave it's final jerk and he was dead.

For a minute it was like Zoro forgot how to breathe, his lungs refused to expand and his mind refused to accept what he had done. Tears blurred his vision and he gave himself a moment to grieve but then it was done.

Zoro's pants were completely soaked through with blood. He hadn't been thinking about them when he made the cut. Why would he? There were more important things to think about. He sat for a moment, as Sanji's blood seeped into the fabric of his clothes and stained them forever. His eyes were stuck on Sanji's pale face. It was an empty body he was touching, nothing inside.

He stood carefully, gently setting Sanji's head down to the floor. Not that it would have mattered if he smashed his head into pieces. What would he care now? He flicked the blood off of Wado and sheathed the sword.

Time to go, he had to move. Move forward, don't look back. But he did look back one last time as he was going to leave. He looked back at Sanji's dead body laying sprawled in a puddle of his own blood. Not a very ceremonial resting place, but there wasn't much to be done about that. He could do something great and symbolic, but it wouldn't change the fact that Sanji was dead and it wouldn't make that death any less painful. So, he just left.

He wandered and he wandered, and finally he found the car when it was starting to get dark. Nami was there, talking with Luffy about something he couldn't hear. She looked up as he got close, relieved to see him until she realized he was alone and covered in blood.

"Where the hell have you been?" she frowned, "We've been liking everywhere. Where's Sanji?"

Zoro opened his mouth to reply but the words were stuck in his throat. "He's..."

After a still moment, Nami's eyes widened and Luffy's face grew serious. "He's not..." Nami started to say cut herself off, not willing to believe what her words would have said.

"What happened?" asked Luffy.

"He... Got bitten when we got overwhelmed," Zoro said slowly, "I tried my best to clean it up but it was bad anyway. I carried him almost all they way back, but he would been all the way gone by now and he wouldn't have wanted you guy to see it."

"So, he his dead?" Nami pressed, her shocked expression turning to horror.

Zoro nodded, "I slit his throat."

"You what!" Nami screeched.

"He told me to, I didn't want to do it!" Zoro yelled back.

"But still!"

"Nami," Luffy said, effectively silencing her. "What were his last words?" Luffy enquired.

Zoro grinned. "Shit, fucking hell," he laughed absurdly. It was just like Sanji to go out swearing like a sailor. It just wasn't going to be the same without him. Not at all.

The end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I feel really guilty. This was written because I wanted to write that "oh shit" moment when someone gets bitten in a zombie story. I was just a really shitty little thing I threw together and I was like "who cares, no one's going to read it anyway", now I feel bad for killing Sanji :( dammit
> 
> Thanks.

**Author's Note:**

> Part two will be coming soon. This is super rushed but I don't care, I'm just putting this up today because I feel horrible. Fuck life and the future...
> 
> I'm sorry, Michigan. I was thinking about the Great Lakes. Also super rabies. Hahaha, I suppose that in Ann Arbor it would be a bunch of zombie college students because of the university there or whatever. 
> 
> Brook is a cherry farmer because I just remember camping in Michigan and hearing the cherry trucks drive by, sloshing their cherries around. There were a lot for some reason. 
> 
> This chapter was edited by the lovely Niji_Hitomi_Iscariot :D
> 
> Thanks.


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